Eating Lunch with Jonah
by Jetpack Monkey
Summary: Two old friends have lunch at a diner. Set after "The Index."


"I'll get the tab," Sydney said as the waitress laid the bill down on the table. 

"Are you kidding? I get, like, no opportunities to treat you. Let me get it."

"Will," Sydney Bristow said, "I never get an opportunity to treat you either. That bill is mine."

Will smiled. "You could be endangering yourself. 'Jonah' spends money at this café all the time. Sydney Bristow doesn't. There could be spies here tracking your every purchase. That slice of pie could be your undoing."

"Okay, what about you? Aren't you endangering yourself just by eating with me?"

Will shrugged. "Sark knows I'm alive. That means the Covenant knows it, too. If they wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already. Or, you know, pulling off some supersmooth ninja action that I was heretofore incapable of."

"The Covenant's not really in the picture anymore. They kinda collapsed at the same time my mother..." Syd looked at her lemon meringue pie. "Mom's kind of... dead."

"Oh?"

"You don't sound very distressed by that."

"I'm not. Sorry, Syd, but your mom was working with Sloane, whose flunky Alison Doren tried to frame me."

"You're not even a little sympathetic."

"Well, I am. I mean" -- he wiped a bit of his apple pie out of the corner of his lip -- "she was your mother, and that sucks to lose her like that. If I found out my parents were dead, I'd implode." He glanced around quickly, and then turned back to Syd. "Did you know that when they die, I get to go to their funeral incognito? I have to stay, like, 50 yards away from the gravesite, but it's pretty cool, if a little morbid"

Syd grinned, something she'd been doing a lot since she picked Will up for lunch. "I wish I could talk to you about what's going on in my life, but it's really kind of boring. I found out I have a sister. Well, half-sister. She's Sloane's daughter."

"Sloane spawned. That's just... That's unbelievable."

"She's pretty great, actually. Her name is Nadia, and she lives with me now. We work together."

Will forked up the last piece of his apple pie. "Oh, sister spies, huh?"

"Actually, you're not going to believe this, but I'm working at a bank again."

The apple pie stopped mid-air and then fell to the plate. "You're right, I don't believe it."

"Will..."

"No, Syd. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you go on about some bank job that doesn't exist. Not again. We both know the score, so the least you can do is be honest with me, okay?"

Sydney crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, Will, but that's all I have to give you. I work at a bank. If you want to check, I'll get you a print-out of the active agent rolls."

"Which wouldn't mean anything. You could be working black ops or something and... You're working black ops, aren't you? Wetworks and stuff?"

"I can't..."

"Sorry." Will made a backing off gesture. "That was wrong of me." He folded his hands together. "So, you work at a _bank_, huh? Tell me about this _bank_."

"I swear you can be so indiscreet sometimes."

"I kept your secret from my evil girlfriend, I think we can talk about your bank job."

"Would you stop making it sound like banking is an ominous thing? It's just what I do."

Will nodded. "So, talk to me about it."

"Well, Nadia and I do a lot of travel, engaging foreign investors and keeping the financial infrastructure of America safe. I'm, uh, working for my boss from the old bank."

"Oh. Hmph." Will frowned for a moment, then leaned in closer. "I'm sure there's a good explanation that you can't tell me. Any big trends in the world of banking right now?"

"Actually, it's been pretty open and shut lately, although an old portfolio has resurfaced, one that my boss is inordinately interested in."

"And I thank you for not going into detail, because I never want to hear that ancient Italian asshole's name again if I can help it."

"I know what you mean. Oh, and I met up with a few old competitors a few weeks ago. I lost touch with one, but the other one we have back at the bank right now, waiting to meet with a retirement plan consultant. Hopefully, she gets a deal that sets her up with a place to live for life."

"I'm sure she deserves it."

"She does." Sydney smiled at Will. "So, what about Jonah? How's he doing?"

"Well, Jonah dated this painter, Ashley, in his building for about six months."

"Is this the same one you were telling me about in Warsaw?"

Will nodded. "It was good at first. She did this painting, claimed it was of me. I dunno, it sort of looked like a bunch of black strokes with short blond hair. But I'm just a construction worker, I don't know anything about art."

"You're a writer, Will."

"Only according to the box of filled notebooks in my apartment that I've been warned by my handler to show to no-one."

"So, what happened with Ashley?"

"She started wanting to know about my past: where I was from, what my parents were like. I kept a pretty good story going, but I really just got tired of the lying every day about every little thing. And she wasn't buying everything I was selling, either."

"She left you?"

"I left her." Will shook his head. "Great girl. She didn't deserve living with the kind of questions a guy in my situation brings to a relationship."

"I'm so sorry. If I'd thought that this would happen to you, I... I would've made sure it didn't."

"No, it's okay, really. I made this choice. I mean, okay, I'm not getting anything remotely resembling sex, but I'm really starting to get to know me better. And you know something? I'm boring as hell."

Sydney reached over and swatted Will on the shoulder. "You are not boring. I've got the whole world espionage thing and you're still one of the most interesting people I know."

"It's the way I handle girders, isn't it?"

"The way you what? That's just wrong on so many levels..."

Will blushed. "Uh, didn't mean it like that. You know, uh, suddenly, I'm in need for some vodka."

"No. No vodka. Vodka leads to things, and Vaughn would not approve."

Will blanched slightly. "Vaughn? Really?"

"Yeah, actually. His wife... He and his wife split up. There was some betrayal."

"Oh, good." Will gazed down, not looking Syd in the eye. "I'm glad. Because I know that was a thing for you." He grabbed the bill and stood. "I'm just gonna pay for this. I have to get back to work."

"Will. This isn't still a thing for you, is it? I mean, me?"

"What? No. Not at all. I'm way beyond that. I'm glad you were there to pick up the pieces for the guy, really. I just, uh, I have to get back to work. Like I said."

Will paid for their meals at the counter. He made an extra effort to flirt with the waitress, something that didn't escape Sydney's notice. He strode back over to the table. "It's been really great catching up, Syd. We'll have to do it again sometime when my handler's feeling generous."

"Will..."

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me. Something's up."

"It's... Okay, I was okay with Warsaw just being Warsaw, you know? But it creeps into my head sometimes. Maybe it could be more. Someday when I'm just Will again and you're out of this spy-slash-banking game of yours, maybe it could work."

Sydney stood, put her hand on Will's shoulder, and looked him in the eye. "Someday, you're going to find somebody. You're a good man, whether you're Will or Jonah, and some girl's going to see that. You are one of the best people I have ever known, and don't forget it."

Will swallowed. "I'll keep it in mind." He reached over and gave her a hug. "Keep in touch," he whispered in her ear. "You know the protocol for reaching me."

"Yeah, I'll do that. I'll send you postcards from my banking trips or something," Syd whispered back. She disengaged from the embrace. "Now, we both have to get back to what we do."

"Yeah. See you, Ms. Banker Lady."

"See you, 'Jonah.'"

They hugged again, and then Sydney left. Will took a deep breath and grabbed his bag and headed back to work.


End file.
